FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEST. CATHARINE COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATIONSunday, February 9, 2014

RUIZ-LOPEZ COMBO COMBINES FOR 34 IN BATTLE OF THE PATRIOTS

The Lady Patriots’ Ruiz-Lopez combo combined for a season high 34 in Saturday’s loss to the #23 University of the Cumberland’s Patriots (15-8, 9-4 MSC).

The St. Catharine Lady Patriots have had a knack in 2014 for keeping contests within reach, despite being undermanned, and Saturday afternoon proved to play much the same. With just minutes remaining in the first half, Sash Ruiz-Lopez (Fort Meyers, Fla.) brought the Patriots in purple within six with a hard fought basket in the lane. For the next two minutes, the Lady Patriot defense would stand tall and send the game to break, trailing by only six at 28-22.

The second half belonged to the Ruiz-Lopez sisters, Carol and Sasha (Fort Meyers, Fla.), as they combined for 21 points, keeping the Patriots in striking distance. Throughout the second half, the Lady Patriots were able to get to basket against the much larger Cumberland’s line up and earn their way to the stripe, but were unable to connect from the line shooting 11 of 21 in the second half. Defensively, the Lady Patriots were able to hold the Cumberland’s to 34% from the field, but were outrebounded 43-24 en route to an 83-61 loss.

The Lady Patriots will return to Lourdes Hall on Tuesday, when they host Wilberforce College at 6 PM.